On the face of it, a free MMO for PC boy racers sounds like a great idea. Need for Speed is also one of the few great racing games that anyone has bothered to convert to PC – it's even playable on a keyboard, although a USB analogue controller is strongly advised as selecting power-ups by pressing the number keys proves impossible at speed unless you're an octopus!

Accessing the game could not be easier – the client can be freely downloaded with an EA account – and downloads remarkably quickly compared to the tortuously slow downloads you might be used to when using Steam or even Battle Net. Graphically, it's impressive at first glance but AI opponents have a habit of suddenly warping into view and bonus items like Nitrous boosts merely cause cars to "blink" on and off into the distance. The game world is also not truly free-form, as you can teleport instantly to the next event undoing any need to learn either of the two city layouts.

The lobby is where you wait for fellow drivers to show up or try out the single-player tutorials. However, these are limited at best – with only Pursuit mode throwing up a worthwhile challenge as you aim to outrun the cops. NFSW is all about the multiplayer, supporting up to eight players in a variety of point-to-point races, and this is where the game's Catch-22 kicks in.

Your see, NFSW is not so much a free game as a free demo. Yes, you can unlock a decent number of cars and bonuses using your starter pack alone, but experience points are hard to earn and you're locked from Level 10 to the maximum Level 50 . So you have a choice of either taking days of boring, formulaic racing to get to a decent level to compete, or buying an upgrade pack for £15 which gifts you with a stash of experience points that you can spend on bonuses or reputation boost.

Once you are in active MMO mode, undoubtedly serious competitive play for ranking points will prove a real attraction to some, but the racing action is formulaic and the course designs unimaginative, even when you start unlocking shortcuts via the upgrade packs. Even then, the racing is a deeply linear experience that won't impress those used to the vast, detail-packed courses of the better console racers, including the recent NFS: Shift.

So yes, NFSW is unlikely to set either the racing or MMO world alight. However, for PC owners usually deprived of this genre entirely, it's a welcome addition and well worth trying out just to see how much of your time and money you fancy spending on mastering it. As a free demo, it's one of the biggest you'll find so why not take a look?